


Haunted

by MsNoGood



Category: Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Future Fic, lukabbie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-10 07:02:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsNoGood/pseuds/MsNoGood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Abbie adjusts to life after purgatory. The long sleepless nights drive her to her old flame Luke. But Luke's life has moved on since she disappeared and he has secrets of his own </p><p> </p><p>  <i>Finally her eyes swung up to his, her haunted gaze meeting his own. They were two of a kind, hounded by darkness and harboring their secrets but needing the company of their familiar bond.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Haunted

     Abbie paced back and forth through her living room. She glanced up at her wall clock; it was already past midnight.  She was tired and her nerves were running her ragged. She tried to sleep but it wouldn’t come. Some nights she stayed awake until three am fidgeting beneath the covers, her thoughts running in circles around the only thing that mattered to her lately; if she would ever be able to trust her fellow witness again. They had a duty that they were obligated to fulfill but her blind faith in Ichabod was gone, burned away with the passing of the eclipse that sealed her in purgatory with Moloch.

     Working with someone who lied, who would trade her eternal soul for another set her on edge and stretched her patience to its limits. It made her realize that she should be just as selfish. Abbie had known betrayal, had been a traitor herself and still she was caught off guard by Ichabod.

     Moloch, he had touched her soul once when she was a defenseless little girl and she lost the battle then. She had not been ready. He bragged about his victory, threatened the witnesses and even succeeded in capturing her. Ultimately she prevailed but not without great cost. A shudder passed through her as she remembered how lonely and isolated she felt. It frightened her. It angered her, and nights like these when she was alone added a sense of helplessness that she didn’t normally feel.

      Her sister Jenny had been the one to rescue her from purgatory. She managed to cross over with the aid of a priest and surprisingly Luke. Jenny swore that she never intended to involve her ex beyond retrieving a specific item of hers that he still had in his possession, a worn old ring given to her by their mother. She used it as a link to guide her to Abbie and draw them both out of purgatory. Jenny hadn’t counted on Luke following her to the woods and witnessing her disappearing into thin air and then reappearing with a battered Abbie in her arms. He had been surprisingly calm about it all, assisting them with first aid and offering to drive them to the hospital. Mostly he was relieved to see Abbie alive and relatively safe. Abbie had been unconscious for the duration of the exchange and Jenny chalked the whole thing up to his status as a veteran: calm during chaos and battle ready at all times. Abbie wasn’t entirely convinced that that was all there was to it and considering Ichabod’s actions she refused to trust so easily. Jenny had gone, left for Japan early this morning on some fact-finding mission. The details of it slipped from her as they usually did these days. It was necessary but this was the worst possible time for her to be alone and as the night wore on with no relief from her tortured thoughts in sight she found herself reconsidering her previous notions.

     Biting her lip she stalked back to her kitchen where she grabbed her phone off the counter. She looked at the screen; three missed calls from Ichabod. She snorted. “Fuck that.” Her fingers hovered over the screen for a moment. She tapped the phone icon and while the back of her mind screamed that it was a mistake she dialed Luke’s number. It rang several times and she disconnected the call before it could go to voicemail. Abbie swore under her breath and made a decision. Carrying the phone to her bedroom she grabbed her keys and purse, tossing the phone inside it. She went to her closet and grabbed her jacket, yanking it from the hanger so hard it clattered to the ground. She shrugged the jacket on and jammed her feet in her slip-on chuck taylors. She bent down shoving a finger into her shoe to free the back of it from under her heel and then traced her way back to the living room and out the front door.

   The cold night air was a shock to her skin. The chilly wind stung her eyes, forcing them closed. She paused briefly to lock the door and then she bounded down the stairs of her front porch and jogged to her car.  She unlocked the car door tossing her purse in the passenger seat and climbed inside. She started the car and shifted the gear in drive. She knew she should let the engine warm up but she was in no mood for caution. She barely looked over her shoulder as she backed out of her space and pulled off.

   The streetlights blurred overhead with their hazy orange glow in her wake as she drove down the darkened avenues of her neighborhood. Abbie could count the number of times on one hand that she enjoyed driving at night; now wasn’t one of them. She tapped her fingers impatiently as she waited for the last red light to change. Her stomach flopped as she thought about seeing him again. She hoped he was home, that he would let her in, that he would listen and understand.  Finally the light changed and she turned down his street. She was lucky. There was an empty spot right in front of his old courtyard style building. She pulled in and removed her keys from the ignition.

   She looked up at Luke’s window. It was dark. Maybe he was already asleep. That’s what normal people did at this hour. She pulled and twirled at the ends of her hair as she considered the likely scenarios. If he was asleep that meant he was home. She grabbed her purse, unzipped it halfway and wedged a hand inside. She rooted around until she made contact with her phone. She would try calling him one more time. This time it went straight to voicemail. Abbie left a hurried message and then hung up.

   “Damn.” She exhaled gripping the steering wheel. “Maybe I should just go.” she dismissed the idea almost immediately. There was nothing waiting for her back home except a cold bed and a long sleepless night. She looked up at his window again. Nothing. But as she looked back to her dashboard she felt an odd shiver at her back not unlike the time Andy tried to sneak up on her.  She was out of her car and in front of the gateway in an instant, jamming her fingertip against Luke’s buzzer long and hard.

   “Wake up damnit!”

   She pressed it again three more times, her frustration growing with each buzz. She looked over her shoulder, scanning the area for anything out of the ordinary. But the feeling that she was being watched had left her. Whatever or whoever it was had gone and there was still no answer from Luke.

     Dejected, she sat down on the curb feeling sorry for herself. She drove out here in the middle of the night like a damn fool just to see some guy who couldn’t be assed to return her calls. First he was chasing her, now he was avoiding her like the plague. The parallel wasn’t lost on her but Luke hadn’t been to purgatory and back off the whim of a trusted partner. She laughed at the absurdity of it. She laughed and cried and laughed some more. She tucked her head into her knees and told herself that she would get some ice cream or whiskey or both and go home. Abbie didn’t know how long she sat there but it was the rhythmic click of shoes on pavement, followed by the jangle of keys that cut short her miserable reflection. She looked up. Luke was walking towards her carrying a plastic bag with a yellow smiley face and the words ‘thank you’ printed on it in bright red letters. He looked different somehow, even from this distance. His walk was the same, smooth and measured, but he looked pale and tired. She stood up as he got closer.

   “Luke?”

    He looked up from his keys, clearly confused. “Abbie, what are you doing here?” He looked genuinely surprised. Abbie sniffed and blinked rapidly in an attempt to hide her crying. She shoved her hands in her back pockets and cast her eyes downward.

   “I guess… I guess I wanted to see you. It’s been a while.” She chanced a look at him to gauge his reaction. He seemed distracted. He was looking over his shoulder examining the surroundings as if he expected an ambush. Finally he turned back to Abbie.

   “Yeah, since the hospital.” He couldn’t forget the day she woke up in her hospital bed. She was tired, dehydrated and on painkillers. She said very little but she seemed genuinely happy to see him. Then she spotted that Ichabod Crane guy sitting outside her room and her face hardened. She ordered everyone out of the room with a surprising amount of energy considering her condition. He tried calling her for weeks afterward but she refused to answer. Eventually he stopped trying. “I don’t know if this is a good idea, you coming here like this.” Abbie felt hot shame and anger all at once.

   “Well I tried calling you but you never answered. I just needed someone to talk to, but you’re right.” She scooped up her purse and walked as fast as she could to her car. “This was a mistake.” She had already unlocked the door when Luke came up beside her and closed it.

   “Wait, don’t leave like this.”

   Abbie shook her head exhaling.  She knew she was being unfair, that Luke was only doing to her what she had done to him, but she was desperate and she needed him. “I don’t know what I was thinking.” She tried to hide her face by looking at the ground but now that Luke was closer to her he could see that she had been crying. The protective instinct in him rose up unbidden and he caught her arm. She could feel his body heat even through her jacket.

   “Just hold on now Abbie. You drove all the way out here, so why don’t you come inside.” He moved closer to her. “I’ll make you some tea and we can talk.” He gave her arm a gentle squeeze before letting it go and the warmth he spread vanished. She missed it immediately. At his invitation she looked up at him, his concern for her was plain but she could see that he was troubled. Something else was bothering him, his body language was nervous, skittish even. She looked away quickly so as not to let on.

   She nodded her head. “Ok.” Then she added, “I’d like that.” He turned towards his building and she followed him back to the gateway. He was unlocking it when Abbie asked “Do you always have to walk this far back to your place?” He looked back over his shoulder at her, his dimpled smile returned and for a moment he seemed like his old self.

     “Only when someone takes my parking spot.” Realizing that he was talking about her made her blush. 

     “Oh, sorry about that.”

     They walked down the cobblestone path towards the south entryway. She continued: “Although I should have known, there’s never any parking in this neighborhood.” They stopped in front of his doorway. Abbie felt some of her old playful energy returning just being near him. “When are you going to move? I thought we discussed this?” Luke smiled to himself as he fingered the keys. He liked it when she meddled in his life. When she assumed she had all the answers to his problems.

     Things were different now. Abbie had been gone a whole year. Everyone at the sheriff’s department thought she was dead. Luke knew that death wasn’t always final and he held out hope, even after he was dismissed from his duties as an officer of the law. And when Abbie turned up a year later in the woods beaten and bloody he had rejoiced. That elation was short lived because Abbie wasn’t the same. He had tried to adapt to her altered state but she pushed him away, her heart hardened to him. And so he retreated, went about his life and finally removed the majority of her things from his home. Some still lingered of course, the things he couldn’t bear to remove.

     More than that there was the danger from supernatural forces and even Andy who he had not seen again but felt his menacing presence in times that he was least expecting it. His old warning flashed in his mind and he nearly dropped his keys. Abbie noticed. She noticed everything. He tried to act normal but he could feel Abbie watching him, waiting. He laughed. It was forced but it gave him time to shove the key in the door and let them in. He held the door for her and she sauntered in. She moved in that way she did when she was judging something. Normally he liked it, it was a turn on, but not when it was focused on him. She let him take the stairs first and she climbed silently behind him. Her “profiler” was on, taking in every detail cataloguing and analyzing his body language. He could never lie to her. She always knew when he tried. But he had one secret to keep from her until the time was right. He stopped at the first landing and placed the grocery bag at the foot of his door. They stood in his archway staring silently at each other. His face was all masked anxiety and anticipation; hers cool and calculating. He unlocked the apartment door and walked inside flicking the light switch by the door. She followed him wordlessly inside stopping in the foyer.

     The incandescent light illuminated a very tidy if not spartan apartment. It hadn’t changed much since the last time she had been there. Knots, streaks and spirals marked the dark wood floors; one of the few embellishments he allowed himself with such a minimalist décor scheme. The walls were crisp white in color and bare save for the pictures of his family perched on the mantle.

      Gone missing was the photo of them in happier times. They had gone up to the lake and spent the day watching the waves roll in, making love on the beach and then cleaning the sand out of their asses once they got home. They took a single picture right at sunset. He perched his old film camera on a rock and set the timer. He barely had enough time to run back to her side and wrap his arm around her pulling her off balance. She was leaned into him, her mouth open in surprise and giggling. He was looking down at her, his smile evident in profile. The rich amber light of the sunset tinting everything with a nostalgic hue. It had been her favorite picture of them.

   In place of the missing photograph was a bronze crucifix; it’s Jesus looking properly tortured. It made for a stark tableau that was warmed only by the Edison bulbs that Luke insisted on using even though they were more expensive. He had gotten rid of the plush white rug she loved squishing her toes into, replaced it with a trim but dull dark brown one.  The living room furniture had been rearranged but overall everything was the same. Luke was already in his spacious kitchen, placing the shopping bag on his speckled marble countertops that obliquely reflected his stainless steel appliances. He was taking what appeared to be ice cream out of the shopping bag and putting it into the freezer. Abbie folded her arms across her chest and cocked her head sideways.

    “What flavor did you get?” He tossed her a questioning look over his shoulder.

“Hmm?”

     “What flavor of ice cream? What did you have to buy in the middle of the night anyway?” he squatted down in front of the bottom row of cabinets, opened the nearest and retrieved his teakettle. Abbie gave his backside and appreciative glance. Couldn’t be helped, it had been a while. He went to fill it with water from the sink.

     “It’s not ice cream, it’s gelato, and it’s chocolate; you know that.” He switched the faucet off and recovered the kettle.

    “What’s the difference?”

    “Less fat, more flavor.”

     Abbie arched a brow. “Well you do keep a trim figure, that’s for sure.”

He smiled as he walked the kettle to the stove, placed it on the back burner and turned it on. Bright blue flames erupted from the cap burner licking the sides of the kettle before he turned it down.

     “Didn’t know you were watching.”

     Abbie smirked and raised both brows, “Always.” On the surface the comment was harmless, flirtatious even but coming from Abbie when she was in such a mood, felt like a threat. He locked eyes with her for a protracted moment, his jaw clenched as he mulled her words and their intention over. She hadn’t budged an inch from the foyer. She stood there, chest high and arms folded neatly across her middle. Her gaze was bold and unflinching as she leveled it against him. He felt a heat rise in him in response to her unspoken challenge. That acute silence between them was finally broken by the echoing clack of her heeled boots across his kitchen floor. She walked up to the island that separated them leaning her pelvis against it and resting her palms on the surface edge.

   “I’m gonna go sit down while I wait for tea.” He nodded as she looked away, finally released from her gaze. Inwardly he was relieved though he knew this wasn’t finished.

     “Ok I’ll bring it to you when it’s ready.”  She turned from him walking in to his living room changing the atmosphere of the room from cool indifference to heated intensity in seconds.  He watched her leave, her hips swaying in a motion that never failed to mesmerize him. Unfortunately his behavior had tipped her off. She knew something was going on with him. It would be an uphill battle to keep her off his trail and yet a part of him wanted her to claw it out of him. So that he wouldn’t have to be silent anymore, maybe have someone to confide in. How nice would it be for that person to be the woman he loved? Of course it could easily go in the opposite direction if she found out about the alliance he made.

     She would be suspicious of them. His already damaged credibility would be broken. He would be outcast, possibly labeled insane and if he wasn’t careful; forced into psychiatric evaluation. Above all he would lose Abbie completely; as a friend, lover, and a colleague. And that was only the mundane side of the equation. He didn’t like thinking about the arcane repercussions.

     His new brother-at-arms had warned him of the dangers of revealing the truth to anyone outside their order. Satan’s forces would no doubt be frothing at the mouth to dispose of him, as a dead Templar knight was one less obstacle in their path to victory. He was still in training and untested in battle. He would be easy pickings for them. He shook his head. As much as he wanted to tell her he would have to keep this secret from Abbie. Although his heart told him that he could trust her he didn’t want to take the risk of hurting her after everything she’d been through. She had enough of that growing up in foster care and the untold horrors she experienced that year she was missing.

     The teakettle whistled loudly behind him, piercing his thoughts. He jumped and switched the stove top off.  Reaching overhead he opened a cabinet and pulled down a mug with a faded cartoon bear on it. It was hers, she never took it with her and he hadn’t bothered to get rid of it. So many other things of hers and even things that just reminded him of her he boxed up or replaced. But this mug he kept. Cheap mugs were like that though. Ingratiating themselves into the native population and enduring beyond all sense of reason, just like unwanted memories. He dropped teabag into the mug and poured the hot water over it. The vivid red color of the herbal tea blossomed within the water on contact, billowing upwards like smoke. The teabag swirled frantically as the water rose. A sharp wine-like scent from the tea wafted up to his nose. The smell of it invigorated him. Herbal tea wasn’t really his thing he had only started buying it for Abbie and continued doing so out of habit. Every now and then he would open a box of tea, inhale deeply and think of her sitting on his sofa, a mug of tea in hand staring silently out the window as enigmatic as the sphinx.

   He heard her shifting on the sofa. No doubt growing impatient at the wait. He grasped the mug by it’s handle and walked carefully into the into the living room, blowing on it gently as he approached the sofa. She was sitting with one leg tucked folded beneath her knee, head bowed and toying with the ends of her hair. No doubt checking for fairy knots. She glanced up at him as he drew close beside her.

   “Careful, It’s hot.” He said as he lowered the drink to her waiting hands.

     “Thank you.” She accepted it pursing her lips to blow across the surface. Abbie pulled her other leg up so she could sit crossed legged, the mug of hot herbal tea still in her grasp. She continued to hold it even though the heat from the mug was close to uncomfortable. He watched her as she hunched her shoulders over the tea. She looked so tiny, so fragile. Everything in him cried out to comfort her and do whatever it took to make everything better for her.

   “Hold on a sec.” He leaned over the arm of the sofa and pulled a blanket from the basket beside it. He pressed it into her hands. She set the mug down on his coffee table and accepted the blanket. She unfolded and draped it over her lap as Luke came to sit down beside her. Before he could open his mouth Abbie fixed him with a stare that bore right through him. She usually only reserved that look for when she was pissed at him. She gripped the edge of the blanket in her hands, twisting it slightly.

   “So what’s going on with you?”

His jaw worked but no words emerged. She continued to stare, her eyes narrowing a bit. He began fidgeting beside her. He hoped she would fire off a few questions so he could answer one or two and gloss over the ones that were too difficult to deal with. But she was on and she wasn’t letting this go.

    “I’m just trying to give you the space you clearly wanted.” He scoffed.

   “Bullshit. You invited me for coffee and then you blew me off. Now you’re all twitchy like you’re expecting someone to jump out of the bushes.”

Luke scoffed. “You can’t be mad about that. That was forever ago” Abbie cocked her head and her eyes widened slightly. Wrong answer.

     “I’m not mad but you’re deflecting” He couldn’t hold her gaze. He had to look at anything that wasn’t her laser-like scrutiny. His walls were plain but they would have to suffice as a distraction. He felt a twinge of annoyance

   “Does it matter? You were going to cancel anyway, right?”

   That stopped her. She knew how she was back then; how she would drop everything for Crane back then. And she certainly had every intention of cancelling. Abbie bit her lip and smoothed the blanket in her lap. Yeah he was right about that and he hated it. Back then he couldn’t breathe in Abbie’s direction without that cranky British guy running interference. It wouldn’t be enough; Abbie never gave up that easily. He knew her well enough to guess that. She was sitting so still, poised like and arrow and he was her target.

   “That doesn’t explain the way you’re acting right now. Something’s going on with you.” Luke felt exposed. He wished he had a blanket for himself.  “Luke is it your PTSD?” her question surprised him. He wondered what he did to make her think of that.  Ever since Abbie had seen him through the worst of his trauma he had been completely open with her. But that question felt like an attack. His mood went foul.

   “What? No it’s not that.”

   It was easier to just be angry with her so he made himself remember how standoffish she had become since they broke up, her frequently dismissive tone, her scolding words, and now her interrogating him in his own home.  She did this, all of this in the face of his concern as if he were some creep in a club trying to grope her. It was as if their relationship had meant nothing, as if their friendship never happened. He felt a murky anger and humiliation for caring and being vulnerable in front of her. He told her things he never told anyone else and now she was questioning him like some ‘perp’ she arrested on a regular basis.

   He rounded on her, lips curled into a snarl ready to unleash all the hurt feelings he had pent up inside and that anger vanished when he saw her. She was staring right past him. Her head was tilted and her eyes were soft and sad. She looked tired, no defeated even. She was moving the blanket off her lap and standing. Was she going to leave? The latent but ever present fear in him seized hold of his thoughts. Frantic thoughts sprung in his mind. _‘This will be the last time you see her.’_ She was already turning away from him. A bolt of desperation shot through him. Reaching up to catch her wrist he stopped her for the second time that night.

    “I saw Andy.” She froze. Her spine went rigid and her head straightened as she turned to face him. He released her hand as the words tumbled out of him in a confused jumble; starting from his first encounter with post-mortem Andy, the lull in the threats, which picked up again after she returned.

    He told her about his possession that he could only describe as the worst experience of his life. The guilt he felt over killing his partner Devon. He knew that it wasn’t him, but the demon inside him that did it but he felt responsible all the same. He was disturbed by very fact that there was a force of evil inside his mind and body. The physical and spiritual violation of that continued to torment him sporadically over the past year. The words poured out of him and Luke felt a burden being lifted from his shoulders. However the wash of relief he felt was replaced with a new fear as he realized what he had just done. Abbie stood stock-still watching him impassively as he told his story.  Would she believe him? No she must think that he was lying or crazy, or both. Doubt crept into his mind as he thought his worst fears were coming true.

   “Luke,” She exhaled shaking her head from side to side. “I’m really sorry that you were possessed by a demon. I can’t imagine what that’s like.” She looked away from him, and began backing away. “There are others who have been through it, if it makes you feel any better.” Her eyes softened as she continued. “You’re not crazy. I can’t tell you everything right now but Andy is NOT on my side no matter what he says.” Her expression turned from understanding to grim. “Andy can’t be trusted. If you see him again shoot first and ask questions later.”

     Her words hung in the air with unanswered questions. Luke blinked stupidly. He wasn’t expecting her to say that. Now his detective instincts were on full alert. “What aren’t you telling me Abbie? What do you have to do with all this? Is it because of that crazy shit in the woods you and your sister were involved in?” Abbie balked at the mention of her imprisonment. Instinctively she backed away from him wrapping her arms around herself protectively and bowing her head low. Her eyes watched his movements, calculating and preparing for attack. She had all the appearance of a wounded animal terrified and dangerous. Luke held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. She flinched.

 “Abbie I’m not gonna hurt you.” He took a step towards her. She wouldn’t look at him. “You came here for a reason right?” Her rigid posture relaxed a bit. “This isn’t about me or my problems, this is about you. I won’t ask anymore questions okay? So why don’t you let me help you?” Finally her eyes swung up to his, her haunted gaze meeting his own. They were two of a kind, hounded by darkness and harboring their secrets but needing the company of their familiar bond. He knew she wanted to tell him so many things but couldn’t. All he knew for certain was that she was afraid and alone and she needed him. He opened his arms to her and she fell into them.

   Abbie felt her face tensing up, tears preparing to fall. She fought it. His strong arms closed around her and she felt the security and comfort that she missed so much. She had been ready to leave. She had resigned herself to having to cut him out of her life completely and suffer alone. She believed that he would never be ready but he surprised her. He made her needs his own and made a place for her in his life.       

     Things couldn’t be as bad as they seemed, it was only fate of humanity that hung in the balance right? No big deal. The thought amused her and she wanted to laugh but it was wrong to laugh. It wasn’t the proper response. Her brain was all mixed up and she wondered if she was going crazy like her mother. The memory bubbled up to the surface and one of the last times she saw her replayed in her mind.     

   _Her mother_ _Lorraine, small, thin and fragile stood in the kitchen of their home staring out the window mumbling quietly to herself. Her hair was unkempt and her clothes dirty, unchanged all week. She kept staring as she fingered the tiny cross around her neck. When Abbie tried to rouse her, begging her to feed her and her sister she screamed and ran from the kitchen, locking herself in the bedroom. She didn’t come out again until the people came and took them away._

   Tears slipped down Abbie’s cheek and she began to sob openly. Luke squeezed her gently, kissing her forehead and rubbing her back softly. His warmth was intoxicating. It poured into her enveloping her senses like a cocoon and soothing her nerves. She nuzzled his neck, inhaling his scent. It was musky, potent. She sniffled and shuddered in his embrace. She could hear his words of comfort in Spanish assuring her that things would be ok and pleading with her not to cry. She smiled weakly. She liked it when he spoke to her in Spanish, she couldn’t help it, it made her feel special.

   “Don’t cry Abbie, we’ll get through this okay?” He had switch back to English. He was reaching down wiping her tears away and she looked up at him with her sad brown eyes, lips parted expectantly.  He leaned in kissing the corner of her mouth. He felt her lips quiver against his own. He pressed his lips to hers gently. He wanted her of course but her secretiveness was troubling and Andy’s warning still echoed faintly in his mind. He felt the vow of secrecy he took much more strongly. He touched his forehead to hers, bringing his hands up to stroke her neck.

“Abbie, what do you want? Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.” She grasped his wrists and closed her eyes.

   “I haven’t been able to sleep and I don’t want to be alone anymore. This doesn’t have to be sex but…I don’t know what to do”

He kissed her again passionately. Her mouth opened to him instinctively but she was still timid in her response. She wasn’t ready. She was too shaken from whatever was hounding her for any lovemaking. But he wanted her to know that when she was ready he would be more than willing to satisfy her. So he kissed her tenderly drawing away slowly so that she gasped when the air came between them.

    “That’s okay with me Abbie, we don’t have to do anything. It’s good.” Luke stood up offering her his hand. “You look really tired do you wanna go to bed?” She nodded as she took it gingerly and he pulled her up next to him.  She clasped his hand in both of her tiny ones as he led her to the bedroom. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her like this. He felt that protectiveness come over him again and he didn’t fight it. If this was what she needed from him right now then he was happy to provide it. Once inside he went to the dresser and opened the top drawer.

   “I still have some of your pajamas you know?” He pulled out a pair of violet and black plaid pajama pants and a matching black tank top and handed them to her.

   “Thank you,” she murmured softly as she took them. He grabbed the back of his shirt pulling it over his head. She stood there watching him undress, the muscles of his chest and arms stretching and flexing underneath the skin. He smiled when he caught her watching him. Blushing she looked away and hurriedly began removing her clothes as Luke clad only in his boxer briefs walked around the foot of the bed and drew back the covers. He turned off the light and sat on the bed facing away from her to offer her some measure of privacy. She changed into her pajamas, leaving her own clothes in a small pile on top of his dresser and shuffled over to the bed. Only when he felt her sink into the mattress did he turn around and join her under the covers pulling her into a loose embrace.

   He stroked the side of her face with the back of his fingers. He held her gaze silently stroking her cheek with his thumb. His fingers skimmed her neck stopping at the hollow of her throat to trace the rounded edge of her clavicle. Her eyelids slipped closed and her lips parted slightly as her skin tingled under the touch of his fingertips working in soft circles above her left breast. He leaned forward to kiss her cheek and then the tip of her nose. His kisses amused her and she smiled with her eyes closed, relishing the sensation of his heated touch on her skin. His hands moved to her shoulder and he placed feather-light kisses on her chin scattering them along her jawline. His lips hummed against her skin as he spoke into her neck.

   “You’re so beautiful Abbie,” She opened her eyes halfway to watch as his dark hair tickled her skin in the moonlight. She felt a nervousness with him and she nearly giggled. He had never been this accessible to her when they were together. She was the one that came to him in need and he was being vulnerable. She could hurt him now if she truly wanted to. His soft underbelly was exposed and glowing like a beacon. She could thrust in and rip his heart out; ruin him for anyone else after her. It was so tempting.

   But the affection he was giving her was very much needed; and if she were being honest she was vulnerable too. He could hurt her just as much if he knew which buttons to push. This tiny bit of tenderness was the least she could ask for.

   His hand glided down the length of her arm, catching her hand in his. He brought her delicate fingers up to his mouth, kissing each tip. His touch wasn’t overtly sexual but she felt her pulse quicken nonetheless. His lips pressed into the center of her palm and she gasped as a pleasurable ache radiated from her palms. He looked back up at her still holding her hand in his. He knew how her palms ached at the first blush of arousal “Is it too much?”

She nodded breathlessly. “It’s just…” His thumb stroked her wrist faintly. The repetitive motion soothed her. “There’s just so much going on right now.”

   “That you can’t tell me.” He finished for her.

   “I’m sorry.”

   He shook his head. “Don’t be.” A strange feeling of déjà vu came over him. The last time he was holding her like this they were breaking up. He was telling her that she would do great at Quantico and that she would be running the FBI in a year’s time. He tried to be cheerful and encouraging even though his heart was breaking. She left him behind then and he couldn’t help feel like she was going to do it again. He certainly was a fool to be comforting her like this but when she was in his arms he felt a contentment that had always been missing from his life. He just wanted to stay this way forever. His face betrayed his thoughts.

   “What’s wrong?” She raised her hand up to cup the side of his face. His hand followed hers and he held it in place. He looked down for a moment before looking back up at her.

     “Nothing. I could just watch you like this all night. You’re the only person I ever felt that way about.”

   Abbie might have blushed in the darkness. He couldn’t tell but he knew how embarrassed she got when he was honest and tender with her. He simply had no pretense when he was alone with her like this. He didn’t want any bravado to come between them so he humbled himself as he spoke softly.

   “You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.” He reached across the space between them to brush an errant lock of hair behind her ear. His fingertips traced the outer whorl of her ear and roamed down the back of her neck resting them along her spine. “You’re beautiful and smart and funny.” She smiled, her teeth a flash of white in the darkness.  His voice dropped an octave. “I miss you like crazy Abbie.” His fingers edged up and down her spine drawing soft circles in her back. She nuzzled her face in his neck like it was her natural home and he cradled her there.

   “I miss you too.” Her breath was hot on his neck.  She looked up at him her eyes wide in the darkness between them. “Promise me something Luke.” He rose up on his elbow and drew his hand from her back to rest on her shoulder. “What is it?”

   “Promise me that you’ll always be on my side, no matter what happens.” He tilted his head.

   “Of course Abbie, I love you. I’ll always protect you.” But Abbie was shaking her head. “I don’t need you trying to protect me Luke. I need you to choose me. Can you do that?”

     He was watching her face. She had never looked this intense before. Wordlessly he nodded. Her face relaxed and she rested her head against his shoulder sighing quietly.  The promise, it was too similar to the threat of his dead colleague.

     “There’s more coming isn’t there? It’s only going to get worse.” She raised her flashing eyes to meet his. A quick tight smile played across her lips. Her expression implied danger but all he could see was that even her fake smiles seemed sad.

   “You promised no more questions, remember?” He nodded, thoroughly chastised. He lay down pulling Abbie closer to him he would not find rest anytime soon. Abbie, satisfied dropped off into sleep quickly and peacefully. Luke however remained awake accompanied only by his troubled thoughts and the sound of her even breathing.

**Author's Note:**

> Luke is depicted here as my season 2 head canon. I doubt the writers and producers will let him be great, but I will make him great here!  
> Knight Templar were a skilled warrior class in Europe officially recognized by the Catholic church. They're associated strongly with the crusades. They were disbanded in 1307 because of rumors of clandestine initiation rituals but really it was because they had significant amounts of money and the king was broke. Many of them were tortured and executed yikes! 
> 
> Please enjoy! And review or leave kudos. I'm considering a followup story that's stand-alone in nature. Maybe a prequel too. Knights templar go through a lot of training, Poor Luke!


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